


Weightless

by Hugsfree-hugme (Noheawilstro808)



Category: Animal Kingdom (TV)
Genre: Craig Cody - Freeform, Gen, Hints of Male/Male feelings, Ocean, Pope Cody - Freeform, Pre-Relationshio, Smurf Cody - Freeform, baz - Freeform, only mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-29 18:36:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20086879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noheawilstro808/pseuds/Hugsfree-hugme
Summary: 17 year old Deran Cody has been bitten by the surfing bug, he has craved an adrenaline rush for even longer. But at the moment he just wanted to stay there on the flat ocean surface away from any jobs, away from the world, away from Smurf. Just for a little bit longer.





	Weightless

**Author's Note:**

> Wanted to write something that was set pre-show. Wanted to set a look into a younger Deran Cody still learning how to live life before adult hood hit. Set a different vibe from what is playing out on the show right now. This is before Deran and Adrian ever became a couple. Hope you all enjoyed it.

He doesn’t think anyone would believe him, but Deran finds the ocean a lot like Smurf and her household. They both like to make him feel small, both make him remember that they are in control. They can remind him that with one wrong move, they can sweep his feet right out from under him, hold him down until his lungs burn. So yeah he feels like they are alike and yet he knows they are different. 

Smurf likes to be in control. She loves the feeling of power and knowing people fear her. Deran doesn’t want to fear his own mother, but he does. He is afraid she will take everything away, everything he loves. Deran doesn’t love a lot of things; it is hard to know what love actually is when someone who lives in the Cody household. Growing up Deran loved his life; but his whole world circled around Smurf, He was always fighting to get her attention, constantly trying to show her he was strong enough, smart enough, brave enough to love, to use. The worst part is it got addicting. As Deran grew older, slightly taller and leaner, he came to the realization he was never going to be like his brothers. He is never going to be the cunning leader like Baz, he is never going to be as swift and deadly as Pope, and he definitely never going to be as big and strong as Craig. All it does though is makes Deran fight harder to prove his place alongside his brothers. He is still a young boy, just shy of 17 so he knows he still has a lot to prove but he has to admit the lifestyle that they live, the heist, the secrets, living on the edge, knowing anytime they could get caught, the easy access to drugs, weed, alcohol, it is all addicting and such an adrenaline rush. He has come to learn that is the power the Smurf holds and she lives for it. 

Deran doesn’t know when it starts changing for him. Don’t get him wrong, he still loves the rush of pulling off jobs, enjoys the money it brings. Maybe it is because when it comes to heist, he is always going to have to share with his brothers, to always be a pawn under his mother’s thumb and call it crazy teenage antics but he wants more, something that is his. It is how he finds surfing, how he finds the ocean and the power it holds. 

The first time he catches his first wave, dropping down into the barrel, flying through the tube, running his fingers through the icy blue water it feels like the rush a job gives him but at the same time it is different and just like before, he becomes addicted to it. He is constantly begging Craig to give him rides to the beach, starts picking up competitions and making a name for himself in the circuits. He becomes Deran Cody, blonde surfer kid with a sweet side step and no fear, not Deran Cody, the baby of Oceanside best kept secret criminal family. He finally finds the difference and he loves it. 

As much as he enjoys the waves, he loves moments like this as well. Where the water is calm and flat that he could lay down, his stomach to his board as one arm holds his head above the water and the other lightly runs through the water. He always feels content and weightless in these moments. He knows it is stupid to do this, not knowing how far he could be drifting from shore, or not knowing what is lurking from under him. It's ironic that something as completely opposite from surfing is still as unpredictable as it. 

It is the ocean telling him once again, it will always be the boss. The only difference between the ocean and Smurf is while the ocean is in control, he is still free. It reminds him to be careful at all times and never turn his back to the sea but also reminds him that he can have fun and fly without it coming at a cost. The ocean will never berate him, disrespect him, or call him worthless. It will accept him for how he is, every flaw, every mistake….. feelings.

“You skipped school again Deran.” A voice breaks him out of his thoughts. Speaking of feelings. 

“What the hell are you talking about Dolan? Who the fuck needs school anyway.” Deran teases at his friend as he tilts his head to the side, the sun making him squints his eyebrows close, to see Adrian straddling his board next to him, looking fresh from the day. Adrian scoffs at him. 

“You know not all of us can just skip school whenever we feel like it.” He tells him with a roll of his eyes. 

“Yes you guys can, you idiots just choose not to” Deran shoots back. Adrian shakes his head as he swings his arms and splashes Deran, drenching him like an ice cold bucket. He spits out the excess water and attempts to grab the red head. He feels himself collide with something hard that is connected to a laugh as Adrian drags him off his board and into the water. 

He opens his eyes under the water, feeling the salty burn and takes a second to enjoy the coat of sun warmed water close to the surface top before pulling back above the water and on to his previous position on the board. 

He watches Adrian wade in the water, flipping his ‘just above the shoulders’ length hair off of his face as he takes the same position as Deran. He turns his head to face Deran and smiles. “How long have you been out here anyways?”

“A couple hours at least. There were some sweet sets earlier. Die down and just been floating around.” He answers. He can feel Adrian staring at him as he turns his head back to the shore. “It’s nice.”

Adrian is another thing that the ocean has thrown at him that he doesn’t know how to handle just yet. Adrian and a few other surfers all just kind of drifted towards Deran when he started taking up surfing a few years ago but Adrian is the only one that makes Deran feel things he doesn’t know how to comprehend just yet but that is a story for another day. Right now he just lets his board hold all his weight and drift around in the big old blue. Silence engulfs the two boys as the wind blows between them, the water splashes up in their face every now and Deran doesn’t think about how every now and then he can feel Adrian’s fingers brush up against his. 

“You have the right idea dude. Love this.” Adrian admits. Deran peeks over, but all he sees is Adrian lying parallel to him, his eyes closed and arm pillowing his head. The motion of the water constantly moving both of them. 

Deran lets out a sigh of agreement as he closes his eyes as well. He is just going to enjoy the moment, free from the world, free from feelings, free from Smurf. Just being weightless...Just a little bit longer.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes this is different and as much as I love writing Deran and Adrian together this made more sense to focus more on the friendship that was there before the relationship. 
> 
> We are so use to Deran with longer hair, I wanted to take a chance and have them switch. Adrian with the nice longer flowy hair and Deran hair cut shorter. 
> 
> This will be on Tumblr as well- @Hugsfree-hugme


End file.
